Development of a mission-focused faculty evaluation system

The development of a new system for annual evaluation of faculty members is described. A narrative of the procedure, including accounts of the problems encountered, is used to show that such a process is too complex and too close to the fundamental identity of a dental school and the self-image of faculty members to be created in a one-time, rational effort or imposed by administrative edict. The process required five years to complete and involved an intermediate model. The goals of the new performance appraisal system were to minimize the extreme rating inflation and significant discrepancies from one chair rater to another that had existed previously. It was also a goal that the new system would create rich and effective feedback for faculty and would orient faculty members toward the mission of the school as a common focus. In achieving these goals, it is the authors' perception that faculty members at this dental school value procedural justice (fairness in the process), that evaluation is a political process, and that a performance appraisal system grounded in organizational mission rather than individual tasks of faculty members fits the emerging career model of knowledge professionals.